Family Portrait
by Justicerocks
Summary: A\U. When J.J's mother dies he doesn't go to live with his Aunt he goes into Foster Care. When Kelly decides to take him in how will it go? Will Kelly be able to handle raising an eight year old boy? What could go wrong?
1. Tragedy

**A\N 1:** Alright friends, here it is a brand new story. This is one of my very first stories that isn't going to be about Dawsey so I'm a little nervous about posting it. A huge thank you to my beta reader for editing this chapter for me.

 **A\N 2:** In this story since its A\U I changed a few things first thing I changed is that Gabby never had a miscarriage and she and Matt have a four month old son. Second thing I changed is that Antonio and Laura never got a divorce and they're still married.

 **Disclaimer:** I may have copied some lines right from the episode but I don't own anything. That includes Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, NBC and everything else.

 **Spoilers:** This story is set post 4.20 "The Last One for Mom" and goes A\U from there. This chapter has spoilers for 4.19 "I Will be Walking" and 4.20 "The Last One for Mom"

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

J.J. was sitting at the squad table interviewing Dawson for his project. Severide sitting behind him and watching, he'd been at the firehouse for a little under an hour and so far things were all right, "So, what's your favourite thing about the job?"

Suddenly, they heard sirens coming down the street and without any warning they stopped in the driveway of the firehouse.

Kelly locked eyes with Gabby and she nodded that she'd watch the boy. Kelly walked into the driveway and saw his friend get out of one of the cars "Hey Antonio," Kelly saw the Detective step out of one of the cars.

"We need to talk in chief Boden's office," Antonio told him, "Now."

"Yeah, of course," Kelly nodded his head, "We'll go in the side way," He said as he led Antonio and another woman into the building. Kelly had a sinking feeling that this was about Detective Halloway but all the way to Chief Boden's office he said nothing. "Chief Boden," He knocked on the door, "Antonio and-" He stopped when he realized he didn't know the other cop's name.

" Sergeant Emma Crowley, I'm Detective Holloway's Sargent," She stepped into the office and shut the door.

"Okay," Boden stood up, he was somewhere between being slightly annoyed at her barging into his office and concerned; he knew something was wrong. "What's going on?"

"Detective Holloway's been shot." She cut to the chase, "The shooter must have been somewhere across the street from the courthouse. As soon as she stepped out of the car she was shot. She's in critical condition but they're getting her ready for surgery at Chicago Med now."

"Alright," Severide was trying to stay calm, "I'll get J.J. and take him down there," He glanced at Chief Boden for the okay, he nodded.

"No," Sergeant Crowley," Shook her head, "The shooter had a getaway car. We can't risk J.J. being anywhere near that hospital it is on strict lockdown."

"Okay so what do we do?" He asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Has her family been contacted?"

"She doesn't have any," Sergeant Crowley explained, "Her parents died a year ago and she was an only child. She never talked much about J.J.'s father but I don't think he was in the picture for long. We've alerted DCFS to the situation if-"

"If what?" Kelly lost it how could they even be thinking she might die. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down and then said, "He's eight years old but he's a smart kid, you put him with DCFS he'll know something's up."

"That's why I'm here," Antonio spoke next, "I knew Bianca when we were both in Vice together. J.J. knows me and I can say I'm just here on another case or just visiting. In reality though I'm here as protection with some squad cars that are going to be parked out front."

"Aright," Kelly nodded, "But say you're here to help him with his project he has to do one on community heroes."

"I can do that," Antonio nodded. "Diego an Eva had similar ones to do when they were in the third grade," he said thinking of his own children who were now ten and fourteen.

"Aright well we should update your crew let them know why there's squad cars out front," Sargent Crowly told Chief Boden.

"Yes," He nodded, "Antonio can you stay with J.J?"

"Of course."

"He's interviewing Gabby,' Kelly explained as he led him out of the office and back into he garage. "Hey J.J. someone's here to see you?"

"Mom?" The boy tuned around fast only to be slightly disappointed to see Antonio, "Hi Detective Dawson. I didn't' know Gabby was your sister.'

"Unfortunately," He laughed at his younger sister's expense, "She give you anything useful for your project?"

"She did. She showed me pictures of her son too and that's when I saw him with you and I told Gabby I knew you."

"Gabby don't bore the kid with baby pictures," Kelly laughed trying to stay positive for J.J's sake, "Besides Boden needs to tell us all something in the meeting room. J.J. you stay here with Detective Dawson alright."

"Okay Kelly," He nodded his head, "Where's Pouch? I want to show her to Detective Dawson?" He looked around for the dog who was usually near him.

"I'll see her later bud," Antonio walked towards him, "Your Mom told me about your project. Anything I can do to help?"

"Can I interview you?" He asked hopefully his eyes gleaming, "I wanted to spend the day at the District but Mom was to busy. Did she send you over here instead"

"Uh yeah," Antonio thought quickly on his feet. "She told me you really liked the gym too the day you came by."

"Oh yeah!" He smiled; his mother had signed him up for boxing classes at Antonio's gym. "Is Diego going to be in my class? He's cool."

Antonio let out a chuckle, "Diego's a few years older then you bud so he won't be but I'll tell him you said that."

"Oh no," The boy backtracked he didn't wan Diego to think he wasn't cool, "Don't ell him. He's okay I guess."

"Right. Well what did you want to ask me?"

J.J. held up the IPhone and held the 'record' button, "When did you first decide you wanted to become a police officer?"

"Oh," Antonio let out a small chuckle, "I always knew. My father's a police officer and there wasn't anything I ever wanted to do except follow in his footsteps."

J.J. lowered the camera and smiled, "I want to be a cop just like my Mom. She loves being a police officer. She's been really busy lately though."

"Yeah sometimes cases can get busy. I'm always busy with cases. But you know what always make me feel better?."

"What?" J.J. asked his curiosity getting the better of him.

"My wife's bakery," He pulled out a box of doughnuts from a bag, "I was just there when… when your Mom called me and asked for this favour?"

"Hey!" Gabby came walking onto the apparatus floor, "Are those Laura's double chocolate doughnuts?" It was her first shift backs from maternity leave and she was feeling really guilty about leaving Dominic for the first time for an extended period of time. He was with her parents so she knew he was all right but she was still checking her phone all the time to make sure he was okay.

"Who says you get one?" Antonio pulled the box back laughing a little as Gabby slapped his hand and took one anyways.

"Shut up," She took a bite of the doughnut, "Hey J.J." She looked at the boy, "How about you go and play with Pouch for a bit and then we can finish, my interview," She wanted to talk to Antonio in private see how Detective Holloway was doing.

"Okay Gabby," J.J. walked off again and walked into the firehouse.

"How's Detective Holloway doing?" Gabby turned to her older brother and asked,

"Not good. She lost a lot of blood. The doctor's are doing everything they can but…" He shook his head, "Dad's at Med waiting for any news," He spoke of their father who was Chief of District twenty-one's precincts."

"Poor J.J." Gabby lowered her head, "Chief Boden talked t us and we're going to make sure J.J. has the best day here until he has to be told I-"

"TRUCK 81, SQUAD 3, AMBULANCE 61 STRCTURE FIRE MICHAEAN AVENAIE AND LAKESHORE!"

"I'll stay here with J.J." Antonio called out as the house got ready to leave for a call.

Three hours later when the house got back from the call J.J. was on the apparatus floor throwing a ball for Pouch to catch, the dog running to get it and then coming back. The fire trucks honked and J.J. moved out of the way going to sit at the Squad table. He watched the firefighters jump out of the trucks and out of their gear.

Without really meaning too he focused on Kelly; his father had walked out on him and his mother when he was a baby so he didn't have any memories of him at all. He'd like to think though that he if di have a father he'd be something like Kelly.

"Hey bud!" Kelly ruffled his hair, "Antonio feed you?"

"Antonio cook?" Gabby raised an eyebrow, "Do you want J.J. to get sick? Antonio doesn't even know how to use a grill. Why do you think Matt has to do all of the BBQ'ng at all of the family events.

"Oh very funny!" Antonio rolled his eyes, "And for you information we ordered pizza. But since you're not interested I won't tell you where it is."

"Its in the fridge," J.J. said as he scratched Pouch's ear. "Kelly can I watch you do some reports?"

"Sure bud," Kelly smiled, "But have you worked more on your assignment" He wondered.

"I'll do I later; but guess what Antonio said?"

"What?" Kelly asked smiling a little at the boy's excited face. He could only hope that his mother would be okay and that he wouldn't have to know what happened to her.

"Since Mom registered me for boxing lessons at his gym he said he could give me some lessons if it's okay. I'm going to need to know how to box if I'm going to become a police officer! Diego wants to become a police officer too."

"Diego? He's ten right?" Kelly looked at Antonio.

"Yeah Laura's just letting him box now. That was the age we agreed on since before he was born."

"Agreed on!" Gabby finished taking off her gear and scoffed, "If it was up to Antonio, Diego would have learnt how to box before he learnt how to walk but Laura always gets her way! He's whipped!"

"Do you mind?" Antonio looked at his sister and tried to act annoyed, it didn't work. "Any news from Ma about Domi?"

"She sent a text, said he's doing alright. I still miss him though."

"We'll see him in a few hours Babe," Matt came up behind her and kissed her on the lips much to J.J's slight disgust.

"Kissing is kind of gross," He announced, "Kelly can we go to your office now?"

"Sure thing buddy," Kelly patted his shoulder and led him off towards the officer's quarters. Pouch followed J.J. quite happily and jumped up on Kelly's bed with the boy, "Who do you still have left to interview?" He wondered.

"You," J.J. looked t him, "All of the Squad guys, Matt, Chief Boden, Otis, Borelli, Hermann and Mouch."

"Well how about you go and interview Matt right now?" He suggested, "His office is right next door to mine."

"Aw, but I wanted to watch you work," He pouted slightly.

"You can watch me work later, it's not all that exciting anyways, now get going."

"Yes Sir," J.J. got off the bed and walked in few steps to Matt's office, he knocked on the door and Gabby opened it, "Hey bud," Matt grinned up at the boy from his chair, "What's up?"

"Can I interview you Matt? For my project?"

"Of course you can," Matt nodded, "Come on in and have a seat, my reports can wait."

"I'll talk to you later," Gabby waved and left the office,

"Is that Dominic?" J.J. asked pointing to the pictures he had on his desk of him and Gabby and a small baby.

"Yeah," Matt nodded looking at the pictures proudly. He loved being a father and he loved Dominic more then he could even say, "He's almost four months old now. Maybe you could see him some time."

"Sure," J.J. nodded, "He's pretty cute," He looked at the pictures, he didn't really know what made a baby cute but he supposed all babies were cute and that's what you were supposed to say to a parent, "Now," He held up Kelly's IPhone and pressed the 'record' button.

"So tell me what you love most about your job?"

"What I love most about my job?" Matt repeated the question, "I think I l love knowing that I'm helping people everyday of their lives and knowing that I'm making things a little bit safer for my fiancée and baby."

"What made you want to be a firefighter?"

"For me, there was no other option. When I was around your age firefighters cam to my school and brought all of their gear and I knew then that I wanted to be a fire fighter. They even let us climb up on the ladder and it was amazing."

"Can I go up on the ladder?" J.J. asked hopefully.

"I don't see a problem with it but maybe we should ask Kelly what he thinks," Matt was sure Kelly wouldn't have a problem with it but he thought it was right thing to do to ask.

"Okay," J.J. nodded his head, "Can I ask now?"

"Sure," Matt said and watched J.J. run back out of the office he stood and watched as J.J. ran into Kelly's office and jumped on the bed.

"Kelly can I climb up on the ladder of Matt's truck? Please?" He added knowing his mother would be disappointed in him if he didn't sue his manners.

Kelly turned to look at his best friend who was now in the door of his office and then back to the young boy, "After you finish your report you can. Go and interview some other people. If my Squad guys give you hard tome tell me and I'll make them do any drill you want."

"Okay," J.J. grinned and walked off again.

"You're great with him you know that," Matt told Kelly, "It's really great to see you with him.

"He's a good kid, hyper sometimes but he's eight."

"Yeah well I think he really likes you," Matt added.

"Yeah I like him too," Kelly smiled and then went back to finishing up his paper work Matt doing the same thing.

"Kelly!" J.J. came running to his office half an hour later, "Capp wasn't really answering my questions."

"Oh he wasn't," Kelly turned in his chair to face the boy, "Why doesn't that surprise me? Alright, what should we have him do?"

"Something really hard!" J.J. decided, "But first can I interview you?"

"Sure,"

J.J. sat on his bed and turned the phone to him, "Do you ever wish you were anything other then a fireman?"

"Yeah, I thought of other jobs. It's hard being a firefighter sometimes. We meet people on one of the worst days of their lives and the job is hard," He took a deep breath and the continued. "You know that feeling in the pit of your stomach when something's going to go wrong?" J.J. nodded, "Well it happens on calls sometimes, and sometimes you can't save everyone or sometimes they get hurt and have to remember that bad things happen to goof people and that those good people will have good things happen to them again soon."

"It must be hard," J.J. said softly, "How do you tell people tat you can't save everyone?"

"It's hard, there aren't any magic words to say to let everyone know it'll be alright because sometimes it's not."

J.J. nodded his head and turned off the phone and looked at Kelly, "Mom hasn't really dated much, says most men are idiots. I think my Dad really hurt her but she likes you, she calls you Kelly and she lets me hang out with you."

"Yeah," Kelly nodded he could understand how that would affect her, "I like her too. I like you too buddy now lets go an get my guys to d some drills what to you ay?"

"Oh cool," J.J. grinned and happily followed Kelly out of his office.

The rest of the day went by relatively fast with J.J. doing his report and interviewing everyone while Antonio stayed around and watched him as the house went out on calls. At five o'clock just as Gabby was getting ready to make dinner Sergeant Crowley walked into the firehouse and straight to Chief Boden's office.

"Hey J.J." Gabby walked out of the kitchen area and toward where he was playing with Pouch the floor, "I think Pouch wants to go for a walk. Why don' t you and Antonio take her." She suggested.

"Alright, Pouch is already exited, "J.J. grinned at the dog and walked away with her to find Antonio.

Meanwhile Connie was going to Severide's office and knocking on the door, "Chief Boden wants to see you," She said, "You to Lieutenant Casey!" She called to the other Lieutenant on the shift, his office door opened.

Having a bad feeling Kelly walked with Matt and Connie back to Chief Boden's office, Connie stopping at her desk and Matt and Kelly walked into the office.

"No!" Kelly shook his head as he saw Chief Boden's face and the face of Sergeant Crawley, "NO!"

"They operated three times to try and save her heart but she was gone, I'm so sorry," Sergeant Crawey hated this part of her job.

Kelly backed away hitting the closed door, this couldn't be happening. It was just a dream. What was he supposed to do now? Wait. Why was he worried about himself? He suddenly remembered J.J, the young boy was now basically an orphan, "J.J. what about him?"

"DCFS is on its way to come and take him into custody."

"Let me tell him." He looked at everyone, "It should be me."

Crawly looked at Boden who nodded his head, "Alright,"

Kelly took a few deep breaths before looking at Matt, "Let's let him go on top of the ladder first then I'll tell him. I want him to have the best day ever."

"Good idea," Matt nodded his head in agreement.

Fifteen minutes later Antonio and J.J. came back from walking Pouch to see Truck 81 parked in the firehouse driveway and the ladder up to the highest possible height.

"Cool!" J.J let go of Pouch's leash and looked up at the ladder, "Does this mean I can go up there now?"

"It does," Kelly told him, "But I'm going to go up with you make sure you're safe. You want to take the phone up there with you. Maybe make an ending shot for your video?"

"Okay," J.J. nodded and he took the phone Kelly offered him, he climbed up the ladder Kelly behind him holding him as he climbed. He got to the very top and carefully turned don the phone and recorded the view while saying, "This is why fire fighters and police officers do what they do, they do it to protect our city." He turned off the camera and saw squad cars with sirens pull into the firehouse, "Is that my Mom?" He asked excitedly.

"Come on J.J. we need to talk." Kelly knew this was going to be the hardest thing he ever had to tell anyone but he knew it had to be him to say it. He and J.J. had grown really close over the past few weeks.

"What's going on J.J. got to the ground and looked up at Kelly, "Where's my Mom?"

"Come on," Kelly led him into he firehouse and towards the conference room, "Sit down, we need to talk."

"No!" J.J. began to cry, "NO!"

"Listen J.J." Kelly grabbed onto his shoulder and knelt down to his level, he locked eyes with him and then said "There was a shooting and your mother got really badly hurt. The doctor's did everything they could to save her but they couldn't I'm so sorry buddy."

"NO! NO! SHE'S COMING TO PICK ME UP! SHE PROMISED SHE'D COME!" He screamed, he didn't want to believe, couldn't believe that this was happening, "No… no…" He sputtered out words as he cried.

"Come here," Kelly pulled him into his arms and held him as tightly as he could.

"Where I'm I going to go?" J.J. looked up at Kelly tears still burning in his eyes. "Foster Care?" He began to cry even more.

"Hey," Kelly knelt down to look at him, he took a quick glance and saw the DCFS agent outside the door, "You listen to me," He turned back to J.J. "You're family now and that means that you can come back here whenever you want. Don't think this is the end of everything I'm going to keep in touch, make sure you're doing alright and I'll send the video to your case worker."

"Case Worker?" J.J. asked, "What's that?"

"It's someone who's going to find a home for you alright.'

"But I want my Mom back! He screamed,

"I know buddy," Kelly took his hand and led him out of the room.

"Hi J.J." The woman stepped forward she was friendly looking and Kelly supposed she was very nice but J.J. didn't seem too eager to go, "My name's Melanie. Can you come with me?"

J.J. shook his head and gripped tighter onto Kelly's hand, "I want to stay here!"

"I know you do," She spoke calmly, "And you must be feeling so scared right now but I'm here to help you. "I promise," She held out her hand for him to take.

"Go on J.J." Kelly encouraged the boy but bent down and gave him a kiss on the had first, "Say goodbye for now."

"Bye," Kelly looked at everyone who was gathered in the common area, "Thank-thank you for helping me today!" He started to cry again and sniffled before bending down to hug Pouch, "Bye Pouch," He hugged the dog tightly.

Pouch whined as she ran J.J. and scratched the door looking at Kelly as he got into the car, "I wish he didn't have to go either Pouch," Kelly told the dog sadly.

 **TBC**

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 **A\N:** So, what did you think? Please review and let me know

 **Up Next:** Will Kelly go and see J.J? What will Matt tell him that'll change everything.


	2. Medication

**A\N:** I'm so sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I've been going through a lot of real life problems that have taken priority. I'm back now though but this chapter was really hard for me to write so it might not be as best as it should be. Thanks as always to my amazing beta reader.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything so please don't sue me.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Kelly stared at his paperwork, he'd been trying to finish it since getting back from a call half an hour ago but his mind kept wandering. It had been a week since Detective Holloway had died and he hadn't heard how J.J. was doing at all.

The last time Kelly had seen J.J. was at his mother's funeral three days ago. The boy wouldn't leave his mother's grave and Kelly ended up taking him kicking and screaming away. After a very long day Kelly drove him back to his group home and handed him off to the workers there. Ever since then he'd been worried about him. What hadn't helped was the fact that he hadn't heard anything about how he was doing.

Was he out of school? Did he have someone to talk to? He didn't know much about group homes but knew it probably wasn't the best environment for him. He needed lots of one-on-one attention, that wasn't something he'd get in a group home. Would he be placed in a foster home soon? Would be have to change schools? Kelly hoped not. The last thing that J.J. needed was even more change in his life.

Realizing he wasn't going to be getting any work done Kelly stood, flicking his pen back onto his desk and exited his office. He walked the few steps to Matt's office and knocked on the closed door. Matt looking up and waving him in, Kelly opened the door and leaned on the door ledge, "How's Dominic doing?"

Dominic had woken up in the middle of the night screaming. It hadn't taken Gabby and Matt long to figure out he had a slight fever. The fever had gone up and Dominic had become even fussier. Both of them were up with him all night and Gabby had decided to take the shift off to stay home with him.

"About the same, his fever hasn't gone up. Gabby got a doctor's appointment for later today." Matt put down his pen and looked up at his best friend. Something was on his mind.

"That's good. You worry about him a lot right?" That was a stupid question. He knew Matt worried about his son, "You know… even when he's not sick… but now that he is are you worried more?"

Matt had a slight suspicion where this conversation was headed. He turned his chair around and looked up at his friend, "Yeah I worry all the time. Today, even though I know Gabby's with him, I still keep checking my phone. I'm tempted to go and take the guys and see for myself how he is."

"That's what makes you good father, right? When you're worried? And you love Dominic and you'll do whatever you can for him."

"I guess so," Matt had never given any thought as to what made him a good father. He knew what would make a bad father, things like what his father had done to him- but he'd never thought about the opposite. "Close the door," Matt figured Kelly might want this to be a private conversation.

Raising his eyebrows slightly Kelly closed the door before leaning against it with his arms and ankles crossed. "So…." He looked expectantly at Matt.

"You're worried about J.J." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Kelly nodded, "Just you know wondering how he's doing, and foster homes aren't always the best places in the world. I just don't want anything bad to happen to him that's all," He added. He didn't want to be all sentimental about it but he was worried about the boy.

"I'm sure he'd love it if you went to visit. You can go tomorrow morning after shift. He probably isn't back in school yet," Matt suggested, "You know what? You could probably even bring some of his things to him from the house."

Kelly had offered to clean up the house and go through all of the things they had. He hadn't started yet but was going to start doing it slowly on his days off. Most of the things he'd figured he'd put into storage for when J.J. was able to go through it and decide what he wanted to keep. "Yeah I could. Thanks." He smiled as he left the office, "Want it open or closed?

'Closed, I'm going to go and take a ride. I need to see how Dominic's doing for myself," Matt stood from his chair and grabbed his cell phone and sent Gabby a quick text message.

Kelly walked up the driveway of the government funded group home carrying a box in his arms. The note J.J's case manager gave him tucked in his back pocket. There were a few children too young for school playing towards the side of the house and Kelly made his way over there.

"May I help you?" An older woman approached him her arms crossed and a frown on her face. Kelly knew right away he didn't want get on her bad side.

"Uh yeah," Kelly shifted the box and got out he note. The note gave him permission to see J.J. and explained how he knew him; it was dated and signed, "I'm here to see J.J. Holloway.

The woman examined the note reading it thoroughly "Alright," She told her co-worker she'd be back and handed the note back over to Kelly and led him into the house, "He's barely said two words since he's gotten here hasn't eaten anything either." She mentioned leading Kelly down a hallway and toeards a room, "He's in there. Take all of the time you want."

"Thank you," Kelly nodded his head, he knocked on the door and then entered. There were two sets of bunk beds, two desks and a large dresser all crammed into the room. J.J. was sitting on a top bunk lying on his back staring at the ceiling.

Kelly put down the box and walked the few steps to the bed; he put his arms on the metal railings, "Hey buddy."

"Kelly," J.J. shot straight up and turned to look at him.

"I…." Kelly's mind went blank. J.J's face was red and swollen and it looked as if he hadn't slept. His heart broke for him knowing he was going through all of this in a strange place where no one knew him. "I brought you some things from your house," He motioned to the box.

"Oh," J.J's eyes fell to the floor, he thought Kelly had come to visit him, but he was only there to drop something off, "That's okay, you can leave it," He said as he laid back down.

"I was thinking maybe we could go and get something to eat," He suggested. He wasn't able to do much for the boy but he could get him to eat, even if it was just burger and fries, at least he wasn't starving himself.

"I'm not hungry."

"Oh come on now," Kelly looked at him, "We all need to eat. How about we go to the Dawson family bakery. We can even go to Antonio's gym," Kelly knew those were two things he liked, "What do you say?"

"I say go away!" J.J. began to cry again, "And don't talk to me about things my…my….mom and I did."

"Alright that's fair ,bud. I understand how that could be hard."

J.J. turned his head and looked at him, "You…you do?" He didn't think that anyone would know what he was feeling. A lot of people had told him they understood but he didn't think they did.

"Yeah," Kelly nodded, "When my best friend died I couldn't go to the places we used to go for awhile. It's really hard losing someone. It hurts like hell doesn't it."

"Uh-huh." J.J. decided that maybe Kelly really did understand.

"And I know it's hard bud but you have to start eating. Your mom would want you to get something to eat."

"I don't want too," He sniffled. How could he say that? How did he know what his mother would want? He couldn't think about that though he needed someone to understand and he thought maybe Kelly could help.

"I know bud." Kelly reached out and soothingly rubbed his arm. "Why don't you come on down?"

J.J. rubbed his eyes and slowly climbed down the ladder and Kelly took him into his arms and held him as tightly as he could as J.J. sobbed.

Kelly had never had a child cry on him before, he was unsure about what to do. So he just held him and placed a kiss to the boy's forehead. When J.J's sobs subsided he knew he'd done something right "I got you," He whispered, "Now how about we go and get something to eat? Anything you want."

"I'm not hungry. I can't eat. Even thinking about eating makes me sick." J.J. lifted his head up to look at Kelly.

"No, no you need to eat," Kelly looked down at the boy. He looked awful, like he was sick and it made him really worried. The last thing that J.J. needed right now was to get sick.

"No!" J.J. reached out and began hitting his chest as hard as he could, "Food makes me sick!"

"Okay," Kelly took his arms, "Don't hit me though, just tell me what's happening. Why does the food make you sick?" He knew that scolding him for hitting wasn't he right thing to do but he had to know violence wasn't the answer.

"I want my Mom's cooking," J.J. cried, "I…I want to see her again! None of this is fair."

"I know it's not," Kelly pulled him into another hug, He was right it wasn't fair at all. "And I know this is hard right now but things will get better." He didn't even believe that himself so he didn't know if J.J. would, he had to say something though.

"No…no! No! You said- and then- and…." J.J. talked in jumbled up words. His fists balled up and got red, "No!" He shook his head and went again to punch Kelly but Kelly held him,

"Don't' hit me J.J." Kelly knew he was only trying to let out his frustration but violence only led to more violence.

"Don't tell me what to do!" J.J. yelled, "Let go of me!" He screamed looking at the door, hoping someone would come. No one did.

Kelly let go and watched J.J. collapse to the floor and curl up in a ball and cry. He was still muttering words and Kelly was furious. Why wasn't anyone helping him when he was clearly in need of it?

"I'll be back in a few seconds," Kelly told the boy and he left the room, he walked down the hallway until he found the woman he' talked to previously. She was now watching the younger children play. "What are you doing to help J.J?"

"Wow," The woman looked at him, taking a bit aback at what he was saying. "I'm not sure I like what you're insinuating. We're doing all we can for him."

"He's eight years old and he just lost his mother! He's in there having a panic attack! That's not okay." Kelly crossed his arms and frowned. He was glad, that by her facial expressions she appeared to care about J.J.

"Yes," She nodded, "It's not okay and we're monitoring him as best as we can. We've reached out for outside help and tried to talk to him but he won't talk, he's not eating and not sleeping. I want to help him as much as you do but there are hundreds of kids in foster care in Chicago. Things take time, even when it is an emergency,"

Kelly hated the fact that the woman was right. "Is there anything I can do?" He asked.

The woman looked at him, "You know him well?" The permission papers Kelly had handed over hadn't said how he knew J.J. just that Kelly had been a friend and colleague of his late mother.

"Yeah, me and his mother were good friends."

"You can try taking him out for the day if you want. It says here that you're allowed to be unsupervised with him," she said referring o the papers J.J's case manager had given him, "And if you can get him to eat something that would be great."

"Yeah," Kelly nodded, "I will take him for a few hours," And he knew what would be his first stop. He walked back into the room and saw J.J slowly going through the boxes he had left for him, "Hey bud, you want go and see Matt and Gabby?"

J.J. looked up at him, "I guess it's okay."

"Good, come on," Kelly took his hand and helped him up, "I'm going to take you for the day okay? We can go visit Matt and Gabby and then we can do whatever you want."

"I want to stay in bed and sleep," J.J. sighed, "I feel really bad."

"That's alright," Kelly patted his shoulder, "We can go over to my apartment if you want and watch some movies."

"Hi Mrs. Ender," J.J. attempted to smile at the woman Kelly had been talking to earlier. He liked her and the other workers at the group home but it wasn't the same as his house. He missed having his own room and having what he wanted for dinner.

"Hi J.J. I'm glad your friend here is going to take you out for the day. You have a fun time alright."

"I'll try," J.J. looked at the ground. He wasn't able to have much fun anymore. He didn't really feel like smiling even.

"Now," Mrs. Ender looked at Kelly, "There aren't many rules, just don't break any laws and curfew is at eight o'clock so have him back before then, oh and here are the numbers you need to have in case anything happens. We need your number too." She handed him a sticky note

"Right," Kelly dug out his phone, "Can I text you?"

"Sure."

Kelly typed the number into his phone and sent a quick text when in dinged and Mrs. Enders received it he smiled, "Anything else you need?"

"No, no his case worker already cleared you otherwise."

"Right," Kelly led J.J. out to his car. "So after we go and visit Matt and Gabby what movies do you want to watch?" He asked him. He hoped he'd get some kind of response out of him but he wasn't sure.

"Don't know," J.J. responded as he looked at the ground. He dragged his feet along the ground and got into Kelly's car. He sat in the back and did up his seatbelt and put his head against the window and began to cry.

Kelly's heart broke into pieces for the boy. He was way to young too have suffered a loss like he had. Not being able to talk about it or fully understand it was only making it worse.

The drive to Matt and Gabby's apartment was silent, even though Kelly had asked J.J a bunch of questions J.J. didn't answer any of them. When they arrived at Matt and Gabby's apartment, J.J. got out of the car and walked into the lobby of the apartment building and waited for Kelly to use the intercom system.

A few minutes later Matt opened the door to the apartment and J.J. stepped inside while Kelly whispered something into his friend's ear.

"Do you need any help cleaning up?" J.J. asked. He looked around the small living area and saw that there were things all over the place. Laundry needed to be folded and put away and parenting hooks were scattered everywhere.

"Sure if you want to bud," Matt responded and watched as J.J. began to clean up, "Gabby's sleeping, our son Dominic had a fever. Gabby took him to the doctor's today and he gave him some pain killers."

"Oh," J.J. frowned a little, "Do you need me to do anything else?" He asked. "I used to help my Mom with a lot of things," He spoke, a slight smile forming on his lips.

"No, no, this is enough. I can sort through the laundry later. You just stay in here while Kelly and I talk." Matt told him and felt a little angry with himself when J.J. looked sadly at the ground.

"Okay," J.J. nodded and he sat down on the couch while Kelly and Matt went into the kitchen.

"You call that an emergency?" Matt whispered harshly closing the kitchen door, "He's perfectly pleasant."

"Yeah, now!" Kelly sighed in frustration, "But he hasn't said one nice thing to me and the people at the group home say he hasn't been eating or sleeping. He's been having nightmares and having a really hard time."

"I can understand that," Matt nodded, "Well I don't really know what to say. You know him better than I do. You can always take him back early if you want."

"No, no I'm sure that'll just make things worse," Kelly sighed; he ran a hand over his face and walked out into the main room. He saw Gabby rocking a fussy Dominic in her arms and J.J. watching.

"I'm sorry Gabby," When Kelly had told J.J. they could come here he'd momentarily forgotten that the baby was sick.

"No, it's alright," Gabby, yawned, "He wasn't awake but he was waking up and I wasn't really sleeping anyways. I can't sleep when my baby's sick."

"Matt said he had a fever. Is he better now?" J.J. asked. He watched as Dominic continued to cry and Gabby soothe him. When he was sick his mother used to comfort him. Now there wasn't anyone to do that and that made him angry.

"Yeah, I think the pain killers just needs to work," Gabby explained, "Being sick isn't much fun is it?" She wasn't sure why the boy was as here but could tell that he wasn't the happy outgoing kid she'd met before, and she wasn't expecting him to be. He'd just lost his mother.

"No, it's not," J.J. agreed, "I don't feel very well either," He told her in a mumbled voice, "Everyone wants me to eat but I'm not hungry. I could drink a smoothie though, I guess."

"Well then," Kelly spoke up, "We'll go and get you a smoothie any kind you want. Two maybe."

"One," J.J. corrected. He walked to the front door and sat down to put on his shoes. "I thought you wanted to stay here for dinner?" He glanced up at Kelly before concentrating on tying his shoelaces. Kelly had never told him he wanted to eat here but J.J. had just assumed that he'd eat something if Gabby had made it. She was a good cook after all. But not as good as his mother; nobody was, at least to him.

"Oh," Kelly scratched his ear trying to hide the blush that was creeping onto his cheeks, "I forgot that Dominic was sick and Matt and Gabby are pretty tired. They don't need us here."

"Oh," J.J. nodded his head. "So you lied?" He stood up his fists clenching as he began nervously pacing back and forth, "Why did you lie to me?" He yelled. "Answer me!" He looked angrily at Kelly but didn't give him any time to respond before he started talking again, "You liked just like Mom did. She said she'd come back to get me but she didn't. Why did she die? I hate her! I hate you!" He began to shake and he reached for something to grab onto but there wasn't anything; he fell to the ground and began to cry and scream.

Kelly stood frozen. He knew he needed to help. Knew that J.J. was obviously in distress but he couldn't move. It was as if he'd forgotten all of his years of dealing with victims and people on the worst days of their lives, even children. He couldn't do anything to help the one that meant the most to him. J.J. was so young. Why did he have to lose his mother? Why did anyone have to die?"

"Here bud," Gabby's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and she knelt down beside J.J. and handed him a paper bag, "Breathe into this it'll help."

"No… no," He sobbed, "Go away," He started breathing heavily as his tears became heavier.

"J.J," Kelly walked towards him, "The paper bag will help you."

"No!" He screamed and woke up Dominic in the process.

"Ssh," Kelly took Gabby's place as she left to comfort her son, "It'll be okay."

"No!" J.J. collapsed into Kelly. After ten more minutes of crying and shaking he crashed.

"This is what happens every night," Kelly explained and lifted the boy into his arms as he stood up with him, "I'll take him back to my apartment, let him sleep for a few hours. He needs it," He sighed miserably, "Maybe I'll get him to see Dr. Charles. I'll see if his case manager will let me at least pay for that. And I think the sooner he goes back to school the better. It'll be hard but the distraction might help him."

Matt looked at his best friend, "You know you're acting like a father," He pointed out, "Put him on the couch, he can sleep here for a few hours. It might wake him up if you move him to many times."

Gabby came into the room, "Yeah he needs a good sleep," Gabby echoed walking back into the room, "I need to go to the grocery store anyways so you two might as well stay for dinner. Then you can take him back to the group home.'

"Gabby," Matt looked at his fiancée, "Babe you need to sleep. You've been up all day with Dominic and now you're going to go out and cook? Let me." He frowned deeply at her. He hated it when she did too much and didn't rest. Ironically her strong determination was also one of the things he loved most about her.

"Matt I'm fine," She kissed him on the lips, "His temperature is going down and he's sleeping again now. When he wakes up you can give him more medication. J.J's sleeping too and I don't want Kelly going because if J.J. wakes up he'll want Kelly."

Kelly opened up his mouth to talk but Matt beat him to it, "So what you're not saying is that you don't want me to go grocery shopping?"

"Matt, baby," Gabby looked at him seriously, "I love you but you always buy the wrong things. Besides you know I love going grocery shopping. It helps me relax.

"I buy the wrong things because you want things that I can't pronounce," Matt pointed out.

"And that's why it's better if I go," Gabby gave him another kiss and then left.

"Lets talk in the kitchen," Matt suggested and began to lead Kelly into the room but Kelly was watching J.J. sleep with some concern.

"Mo….no….mo!" J.J. yelled out as his body twitched aggressively, "Mom!" he shouted and he fell off the couch and hit his head on the side of the coffee table and woke up. Startled he began to cry.

"Hey," Kelly jogged towards him, "It's alright bud, just a bad dream. You fell of the couch and hit your head on the coffee table." He began to examine him.

J.J. looked at Kelly and then around the room. He was squinting his eyes together and scrunched up his nose as he looked around; obviously confused. "Where…where am I?"

"You're at Matt and Kelly's apartment," Kelly told him. "Don't you remember coming here?" Kelly asked unsure if this was a cause for concern or not.

"No," J.J. shook his head, "My head really hurts," He complained.

"No bruising yet," Kelly helped him sit back up on the couch. "I'll get you an ice pack," He stood and looked at Matt, "Are they in the freezer?"

"Yeah Gabby always keeps some just in case," Matt told his friend. He took Kelly's spot sitting next to J.J. "Hey I have an idea. How about you watch a funny movie?" He remembered that watching Disney movies was the only way Griffin and Ben Darden would sleep when he had temporary custody over them.

"Sure I guess," J.J. shrugged his shoulders. Matt then turned on the TV and put on a movie using Netflick.

"A movie, good idea," Kelly walked back into the room handing the ice pack over to J.J. "We'll just be in the kitchen. I'll come and check on you in a few minutes alright."

"Okay," J.J. nodded holding the ice pack to his head, his eyes concentrating on the movie.

Walking into the kitchen Kelly sat in one of the chairs, letting out a frustrated sigh, "I just don't know how to help him," Kelly shook his head, "I mean there's only so much I can do," He thought back to what he'd said earlier, "There's no way he's ready for school yet. But maybe I'll take him to Antonio's gym. If he won't talk about what he's feeling maybe he can box it out."

"Yeah," Matt nodded, "That might work," Matt watched him fidget with his hands, "You can go sit with him if you want to," He stood up going to the fridge and getting out some juice and a container of yogurt, "Maybe he'll eat this. It's pretty soft."

"Maybe," Kelly took the items and stood up. Looking up at the ceiling he took a deep breath; his fingers now drumming nervously on his legs, "I don't even know what I'm doing," He said as he lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I mean… I'm not…. I don't know how to do this," He took his hands and waved them around. "Whatever it is I'm doing I mean."

"Being a father," Matt stared what he had observed to be the obvious, "And to tell you the truth I don't think anyone's ready. I mean I was nervous before Dominic was born and I'm still nervous."

"Man," Kelly shook his head, "You've wanted kids since I've know you. If you were nervous then what does that say for the rest of us? Besides… I'm not J.J.'s father. I don't know what I am except very confused."

"But you could be," Matt said in an encouraging manner. "I mean it wouldn't be that hard to become his official legal guardian. He needs that. Needs someone who understands and can be there for him."

Kelly raised his eyes and turned to look at his best friend, "I work twenty-four hour shifts. How I'm I going to be there for him all the time? I don't know whether I'll be home, that's not what he needs right now. I'm not what he needs right now."

The more he thought about it though the more it seemed to make sense, it made sense in a way that didn't; make any real sense. Kelly liked J.J. and he was a good kid that just needed a lot of help. Kelly was willing and able to get him all the help that he needed and he understood why J.J was so angry and he knew what that was like. He knew that once J.J. was feeling better he'd like to spend time at the firehouse playing with Pouch.

"You have a entire house full of people at fifty-one who'd be more than happy to help you out; we're your family, man," Matt reminded him. "And I'm sure District twenty-one would help out as well. In fact I think that Erin Lindsay and Bianca Holloway were good friends; they always seemed to be laughing when they were together at Molly's."

Great. That was the last thing Kelly needed right now was a run in with Erin Lindsay, his one time girlfriend. They'd tried the dating thing but Erin had stopped it when it had become apparent that they were just too much alike to be in a long-term relationship.

"That ship sailed a long time ago," Kelly informed him.

"Well-" Matt was caught off by Dominic's cries. He rushed into the master bedroom and scooped Dominic up from his cradle. "Ssh," He soothed, holding him close to his chest, "Daddy's here," He kissed his forehead, "You still have a slight fever," He pouted, "The medication must me wearing off." He carried him back into the kitchen to retrieve the medication.

"I'll get his medication," Kelly offered seeing Dominic kick his little feet and scream, "Where is it?"

"The cabinet by the fridge. It has his name on it," Matt spoke rather loud as Dominic's cries got louder, "Alright," Matt tuned his son and began to take off his onsie, "I know you don't feel well," He held him as close to his chest as he could, "Daddy is going to give you some medication and make you all better. Then when Mommy comes home she can feed you and then hopefully you'll be able to get some sleep." Matt knew his son was tired, his brown eyes blinking open and closed as he screamed. He hadn't been getting as much sleep as he needed and that wasn't good for his development or for his cold. If this fever continued much longer they'd need to take him into the emergency room and not just to his paediatrician.

In the cabinet Kelly found a plastic see through container with different kinds of medication, over the counter and prescription. Kelly smiled as he noticed everything properly labelled...definitely something Gabby would do. He found Dominic's medication and read the directions' thoroughly. "It's an injection?" He picked up what at first glance seemed to be a needle.

"No," Matt sighed out of frustration, "It's going to go into his mouth, fill it up to the dosage instructions on the bottle. And hurry!" Matt added angrily. He could almost feel his heart breaking as his son's cries got more and more sad and sick sounding.

"Right," Kelly filled up the syringe as quickly as he could and tried to give it to Dominic. "He's not taking it," Kelly informed his friend of the obvious.

"You need to push it in!" Matt yelled, "Can't you do anything right?"

Knowing his friend was just being a worried father Kelly chose to ignore the comment. He opened his god-son's mouth and pushed the syringe in.

Dominic spit some of it out as he continued to cry, "Just wait a minute and then give him the rest," Matt said watching his son closely so he could see when he swallowed the medication. He waited a minute and then looked at Kelly "Alright you can give him the rest now." Kelly did as he was told and gave Dominic he rest of the medication.

"Alright," Matt sighed in relief, "There you go buddy, that will make you feel all better," He soothed and Dominic appeared to calm down but as Matt held him closely he could feel and smell what was happening. As Dominic started to cry again diarrhea began leaking out of his diaper. Some of it got onto Matt's pants.

"Here," Kelly tried hard to hold in his laughter as he reached out to take Dominic, "I'll change him." But he could tell that Dominic wasn't finished yet as the diarrhea kept on coming.

"Ugh," Matt groaned out a little pinching his nose, "I know you can't help it buddy but really?" Matt pressed a kiss to his son's forehead before handing him over to Kelly, "I think he's finished now."

"Yeah," Kelly scrunched up his nose at the smell and carried Dominic into the nursery to change him.

"I'll get changed and then maybe give him a bath. I think Gabby mentioned something about that being good after babies have diarrhea," Matt followed Kelly into the nursery. He could see that Dominic was not happy and that he wasn't going to be easy to change. "I'll help," He reached out and held his son still while Kelly changed him.

Rubbing his eyes with one hand while plugging his nose with the other J.J. walked into the kitchen "What smells?" He turned the corner but saw no one. Still the horrendous odour was there. Still plugging his nose he saw the medicine container and walked towards it.

Medicine was supposed to make you feel better and right now he was feeling awful. In the best way that he could think of, it he felt like the insides of him were ripping apart. He felt so sad and angry and hurt and frustrated that he almost felt like he wanted to die. He could think these thoughts but he couldn't say them out loud. They seemed so foreign and silly to him that he didn't know how to express them, plus a part of him though that no one would believe him. Whatever the case was he just wanted to feel better. He walked towards the medication and picked it up. He looked at the bottle and tried to read what it said. He could make out all of the words expect for the long one with a lot of different sounds in it. "I hope this helps," He put the bottle to his lips and took a drink.

"I'm back, do you guys mind- J.J!" The bags Gabby was carrying crashed to the floor and she rushed towards him taking the bottle away from him, "Don't do that!"

"Why? It's medicine and I want to feel better." J.J. didn't understand that different medications did different things for different people.

"Yes, but this isn't your medication," Gabby explained sighing with relief now that the stressful moment seemed to be over, "You didn't take any did you?"

"Maybe a little bit," He tilted his head to one side unsure if he should be truthful with her or not. His mother had taught him never to lie but she didn't seem to understand that this needed to work.

"Alright," Gabby took a minute to herself, "Why does it smell in here?" She asked just realizing the smell. "Where are Matt and Kelly?" She screwed the lid back onto the bottle and put it in the medication box.

"What happened?" Kelly asked jogging into the kitchen. He looked between the crashed groceries and J.J. and Gabby.

"J.J. almost drank Dominic's medication," Gabby told him, "But I caught him just in time.

"But I-" J.J.'s throat began to close, "Can't-" He collapsed onto the floor.

"Call 911!" Gabby shouted to Kelly as she got down onto he floor next to him.

 **TBC**

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 **A\N:** Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.

 **Up Next:** Is J.J. going to be okay? What will Kelly do to help him?


	3. The Diagnosis

**A\N:** A huge thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing this story. It means so much to me. Please keep reading and leaving reviews. A special thank you to my beta reader for ending this chapter for me.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warinings:** None

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 **Chapter 3**

Kelly waited impatiently; as Dr. Halstead talked to J.J.'s caseworker. J.J. had a mild allergic reaction to Dominic's medication and after waiting an hour in the ER, he was admitted. He'd been connected to an IV solution and given a bed in a screened off area of the busy ER. Now, after another hour the medication was finally starting to take affect.

"I want to go!" J.J. pouted, trying to tug at the IV in his arm. He didn't understand why he was here and he was starting to get very scared. All of these people around him were unsettling.

Kelly stopped pacing and turned to the boy. He hated seeing him like this, he was clearly agitated, more so than usual and was not happy about the situation. Kelly couldn't really blame him, being in a hospital was no fun, but it was probably the safest place for him, though, if Kelly was being honest with himself.

He figured that J.J. would be released soon, and that his case manager would take him back to the group home. This worried Kelly, not because J.J. was in a bad place but because he had tried to hurt himself. The eight year old didn't really understand what he had done to himself but the words would forever remain in Kelly's mind.

" _Hi there J.J." Dr. Halstead's voice was the first thing J.J. heard when he woke up, "You had an allergic reaction to some medication. We're just clearing your blood now so your arm might hurt a little. I'm glad to see you're awake, though. My name is Dr. Halstead."_

" _Halstead." J.J. repeated the name trying to think of where he'd heard it before. Of course it was because Dr. Halstead's brother, a Detective at District twenty-one had word with his mother, but JJ couldn't think that deeply quite yet._

 _Knowing what had happened, Will thought it would be best if he didn't bring up the connection, that wasn't what the boy needed right now. He patted J.J.'s head and motioned to where Kelly was sitting on the opposite side of the bed, "Your friend Kelly has been here all day with you."_

 _J.J. turned his head to look at Kelly, "Th-thanks." He mumbled. His brain was having a hard time trying to remember what had happened, he did know though that he was feeling really unhappy. He'd been hoping for two things, one he wanted the medication to make him feel better, or he hoped that the medication would send him to heaven to see his mother again, because that was all he really wanted._

" _I'll be back in a little while to check on you buddy." Will informed him, then turning to Kelly he said, "Let the nurses know if he becomes increasingly agitated."_

 _Kelly nodded his head and watched the doctor leave the room. "How're you feeling?" Kelly could tell by looking at him that he was still sick, he was pale and sweating and didn't appear to have much energy at all._

" _The medication didn't work." He mumbled. He was disappointed; he'd been hoping it would work._

 _Before now Kelly hadn't thought of the possibility that J.J. had known what he was doing when he'd taken the medication. He had assumed, like everyone else that it had been an accident. Choosing his words carefully before he spoke he said, "What do you mean J.J.?"_

" _I just want to feel better." Hot, wet tears fell out of his eyes and splashed onto his hospital gown, "I want to see my mother again too."_

" _Oh J.J." Kelly's heart yet again broke for the boy, not knowing what else to do he took his hand and squeezed it and leaned over to kiss the top of his head, "It'll be okay. I'll make sure you feel better." Kelly promised him, and that was a promise he'd do everything in his power to keep._

"Alright, Kelly." Dr. Halstead poked his head into the curtained area. "I can talk to you now. Since Kelly wasn't J.J.'s legal guardian he always needed to talk to his case manager first.

"Right, actually, can you join us too?" Kelly looked at Melanie, J.J.'s caseworker. He wanted to share with both of them the concerns he had about J.J.'s mental health after what he had told him earlier in the day.

"Alright." Melanie followed Kelly out into the hallway. She closed the curtain, to prevent J.J. from overhearing and waited for Kelly to speak.

Again, choosing his words carefully Kelly took a deep breath. "J.J. told me that he took the medication on purpose. He wanted it to make him see his mother again. He knows he doesn't feel happy, knows he's not supposed to feel like this and he's crying out for help. I don't think it would be in his best interest to release him."

This changed everything, Will was going to release him in a half an hour, but as he tapped his chin, he realized what Kelly was saying. He knew what it was like to lose a parent at a young age; if J.J. was a danger to himself they needed to at least have him seen by someone. "I can see if Dr. Charles can talk to him."

Melanie Watson had seen this before, not in children so young but she knew it could happen. J.J. had been through a horrific loss and all of the sudden changes didn't help. "Alright. Send the reports over to my office. I have to go." She hated leaving, wished she didn't have to but she had thirty other clients and mountains of paperwork to go though. She couldn't afford to lose an entire day's work. "I signed some papers so that the doctors can talk to you," She told Kelly, "You have my cell phone number, keep me informed."

"I will." He nodded. He understood why she had to leave.

"I'll go and page Dr. Charles." Will looked at Kelly, "See if he can get him to talk. Has he said much to you about it?"

"He doesn't really know much of what happened." Kelly lowered his voice even more. "Just that his mother was shot and died. The whole funeral was a traumatic experience for him though. How's Jay doing?"

"Frustrated, but mandatory counselling helped him I think. I can text him if you want, see if he can come and visit J.J."

"Yeah," Kelly nodded. "I'm sure J.J. would like that thanks, man."

"Sure." Will nodded. "I'll tell him that's why he's staying a little bit longer." He walked back into the curtained area, "Well J.J. guess what?" J.J. looked at him but didn't respond. "My younger brother, Detective Jay Halstead worked with your mother. I texted him and he said he's going to come by and visit you, so you're going to hang around here for a little while alright."

"Is Erin coming too?" He asked, with a hint of hopefulness in his voice. "She was my Mom's best friend. She's really funny." He had lots of memories of him, his mother and Erin doing things together.

"You know what, I'm not sure but I think I could get Jay to bring her along," Will told him. "Now how about we get you back into your clothes and you can come and play with some of the toys we have." Will unhooked him from the IV.

"Alright." J.J. sat up. Kelly handed him back his clothes and left the curtained area along with Will while he got changed.

"I'll get Dr. Charles to talk to J.J. in our family room, it has some toys and games and it'll be a more relaxed environment for him." Will remembered what it was like when his mother had died, and how much the nurses and doctors helped him and Jay, he always felt good when he could do the something for children.

"Okay." Kelly nodded he watched the doctor walk away. Soon after, J.J. came out with his clothes on and they went to the family room. They were the only one's there but at first J.J. just sat there not doing anything. He was just getting started playing with some LEGO pieces when Dr. Charles walked in.

"I see you've found the best thing in here. Mind if I sit with you?"

J.J. looked up at him and shrugged his shoulders. "Sure." He went back to building his structure without saying much else. He was trying to concrete on playing but it was hard.

"My names Dr. Charles. I hear your names J.J." He said as he observed how the boy reacted to being talked to, so far he appeared to be doing all right.

"Yeah."

"What are you building?"

"A house. Why do you ask so many questions?"

Dr. Charles chuckled a little. "I guess I'm just curious. Tell me about your house." He was interested to see how J.J. described what he was building and if he had any reasons for it.

"It's just a house. Like the one my Mom and me lived in," J.J. continued to build.

Dr. Charles hadn't known how to approach the topic of J.J.'s mother dying, now that he had he was going to go with it. "Tell me about your mother."

J.J. began pulling at his shirt anxiously. "She was nice and pretty. I love her but….but she…I want to see her." He started to put another Lego on his house but it fumbled and so out of frustration he pushed the entire structure onto the floor. It broke and he began to cry. "Please stop talking!" He begged.

"Okay, okay," Dr. Charles reached out to steady him. "We don't have to talk about your mother anymore."

"But I want to see her." J.J. shook his head rapidly. "She's in heaven… but maybe if I die-"

"No." Dr. Charles looked at him. "Your mother wouldn't want that. Now you just stay here alright and I'm going to go and talk to your friend alright." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a green stress ball. "Here you go, squeeze this it'll make you feel better." He reached over and ruffled the boy's hair.

"So? What do you think?" Kelly asked as they stepped out of the room. Both men keeping a close eye on J.J. in case he did anything dangerous.

"He's definitely depressed," Dr. Charles, informed him, "Childhood depression is rare but unfortunately it does happen. I'd like to admit him for seventy-two hours of observation and start him on a low dose of medication. After the seventy-two hours are up I'll see him twice a week at first and then once a week and hopefully in three months we'll have him off the mediation."

Kelly took a moment to process what he'd just been told, that was a lot of information, "Alright. What would help him adjust?"

"Stability. Which I know isn't going to be easy but he needs to feel safe again, have a routine and get back to a normal life again.

Kelly knew that was what J.J. needed as well. He was going to try his best to spend more time with him and make sure that he got into a good foster home. The last thing he needed was to end up in a bad one.

"I'll take a few shifts off work so that I can be here with him. That should help him in the short run."

"Yes, but if you're only going to be in his life a short while then I suggest you don't do it." He wasn't trying to offend Kelly; he was only trying to make him understand what would be best for J.J.

"Excuse me?" Kelly wasn't sure he like the doctor's tone of voice.

"Children, especially ones that are in situations like J.J.'s need stability in adults as well. They don't do well when adults they care about bounce in and out of their lives. It just makes them confused and they often think that it's their fault. I know you might not mean to drift away from him, but your job keeps you pretty busy. I would suggest thinking about how much commitment you're willing to give to J.J. before doing anything else."

"Right." That made sense now that he thought about it. He wanted to be there for J.J. but he wouldn't always be able to, plus if he was only going to go into a foster home, that was far away it wasn't a good idea for him to get to attached.

"Well, I'll let you get him settled into his room. I need to make a few calls but I'll be back….I think." Without another word, Kelly left. He walked out of the ER and without really thinking went to his car. Twenty minutes later he showed up at Matt and Gabby's apartment.

"Hey, Kelly." Matt knew something wasn't right as soon as he saw his best friend, "Is J.J. okay?"

"No. He's depressed. They admitted him for seventy-two hours of observation. Said that unless I'm committed too him I shouldn't hang around to much." He sighed out of frustration and ran a hand over his face.

"Come in." Matt ushered him into the apartment. The two friends walked to the couch and sat down. "Dominic's sleeping and so is Gabby," he explained. "So, tell me why you're here, instead of at the hospital."

"What? I just told you I don't know what I'm doing." Kelly ran a hand over his face as he took a long breath. What Dr. Charles had said, that made sense. Unless he was prepared to be one hundred percent committed to J.J. then he shouldn't be around him so much.

"I think you do." Matt looked at him, "When J.J. was at the group home you were so worried about him, and when the ambulance came and took him away you stayed with him, were there for him and weren't worried about anything else. That's acting like a father. I think you should foster him. Then maybe if things work out in a year or so once things settle down you can adopt him.

Kelly wasn't as surprised as Matt had expected him to be, the idea had crossed his mind before but that was a big decision and a huge reasonability. "We work twenty-four hours shifts Matt. How I'm I supposed to care for him and work at the same time? He needs twenty-four hour supervision right now."

"I'm not saying it'll be easy but I think it's worth a shot. I think right now, you're the best person to take care of him. When he's out of the hospital and you're working I know Gabby will help look after him and I'm sure Cindy Hermann will too."

Kelly nodded rubbing his forehead. "Maybe, I can see if Erin Lindsay can help too. She was Bianca's best friend and J.J. knows her and really likes her."

"Yeah." Matt nodded. He wanted to say more to his friend about the Detective but knew it wasn't the time, "J.J's social worker might be able to speed up the foster process. If it turns out you need recommendation letters you can count on me and Gabby."

"Thanks Man. I think I'll go and talk to her now." He stood and left the house.

 **TBC**

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 **A\N:** Please leave a review and let me know what you thought.


	4. Recovery

**A\N:** Thank you so much to all of you. Thank you for reading and reviewing, favouriting and altering this story it meant so much to me. I am very sorry to tell you though that this is the unexpected last chapter of this story. I had meant it to be longer but I had some writer's block and a lack of confidence. Once again I took on to many stories and can't seem to finish them all or write them all. From the start this story was going to be difficult to write as its out of my comfort zone. I think I took on to much at once though, it would have been better to start with one-shots and work my way up. Again, I'm so sorry and i hope I haven't disappointed any of you.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

 **Spoilers:** None

 **Warnings:** None

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 **Chapter 4**

When Kelly got to J.J's hospital room he heard voices he recognized to be Erin Lindsay's and Jay Halstead's. He knew that they were going to stop by but he was still a bit nervous. Not that he had any reason to be he reminded himself; he and Erin Lindsay's relationship didn't work out. He walked into the room and smiled as he saw Jay Halstead setting up a TV set.

"Well I see you've made friends with the right person J.J." He nodded.

"Detective Halstead said this might make me feel better," J.J. informed Kelly although he didn't sound so sure.

"Well let's hope it does." Kelly saw the bags placed on the floor but decided if it were anything important Erin and Jay would tell him.

"Detective Halstead's helping you here I think I might go into the hallway and talk to Kelly," Erin motioned for Kelly to follow her, he did. They walked down the hallway and then stopped, "Will didn't tell us much about how he's doing." She got straight to the point.

"Not good." Kelly scratched his ear and sighed, "He's got adolescent depression. Dr. Charles put him on some medication and he's going to need lots of help and therapy to get better. He says its possible though but it might take awhile."

"I can't believe all of this has happened. We were all so shocked and…" She took a deep breath and tried not to cry, "She was my best friend and I know I haven't been handling things well before now but I'm going to try and do better now.

Kelly had heard that she's taken the death badly. She'd temporally gone back to her old ways of drinking and going to clubs and doing drugs. It had taken a lot of intervention on Jay's part and the part of her would be adoptive father Hank Voight to pull her back up.

"I'm sure J.J. will appreciate it. He was as excited as he could be when found you were coming for a visit. He seems to like Jay too."

"Jay told him that Will was the best doctor he knew and that he'd help him get better; said that he'd make sure he got lots of toys and books and a TV. It's good he has a private room because of his condition.

"Yeah." Kelly agreed, he didn't think J.J. would be able to handle a roommate just yet. In fact he was sure that it would probably be a long time before J.J. went back to school and saw his friends again.

"Oh," Erin looked at him again a they began to walk back to the room, "We went to a toy store and got some toys for him, also we have a gift certificate for Toys R Us and some money to help pay for things, all from the District. Antonio said he'd come around and visit too."

"That's very generous but you didn't have to do that." Kelly knew that because of his mother's will J.J.'s hospital stay would be covered but he wasn't quite sure of all of the medications and therapy bills. Plus selling the house and dealing with all of those expenses. Still, it didn't feel right taking everyone else's money.

"Bianca was our friend," She reminded him, "It's the least all of us can do. We want to help you with everything else as well, cleaning out the house and everything. I want to help more with J.J. too."

Kelly looked at her and smiled, "Speaking of that I'm actually going to try and foster J.J. hopefully later adopt him fully."

"Good. I think that'll be good for both of you," Erin took his hand and gently squeezed it before letting go and walking into J.J.'s hospital room.

 **THE END**

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 **A\N:** Please review!


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